The Politics of Belonging among Polish Migrants in Île-de-France: Intersections of Gender, Religion and Race

In both Poland and France, gender, sexuality and reproduction are central to the constructions of nationhood and statehood, with categories such as race, religion and ethnicity playing a crucial role in public debates surrounding sex, family planning and the roles of men and women. This article employs the theoretical framework of belonging and the politics of belonging to examine how Polish migrants in Paris and the surrounding region of Île-de-France renegotiate their identities in relation to broader national and global discourses on gender, race and religion. Focusing on first-generation migrants from diverse working- and middle-class backgrounds, the analysis explores how they navigate belonging to various collectivities – whether national, diasporic or religious communities – and how they assert their deservingness to live in the host country, maintain ties to their homeland, participate in civil society or cultivate a sense of cosmopolitan identity.

Keywords: Catholicism, identity, Polish migration, sexuality, whitenes